


Tony Tuesdays

by TheCityLightShow



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 21:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8118514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCityLightShow/pseuds/TheCityLightShow
Summary: Tuesdays are Tony Tuesdays, apparently. Really, it's not incorrect, because every Tuesday since Steve moved into the Tower after the Battle of New York, Tony has dragged Steve out into the city to discover something new. Through Tony, Steve has come to love the 21st century – Steve just hopes that Tony can do the same for Bucky. Even after the reveal of the Soldier being responsible for the deaths of Tony’s parents – Bucky is part of life in the Tower.And now he’s let himself be dragged on a Tony Tuesday.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So I've had this written out for a while and I'm finally going to post it, because it's done and I'm as happy with it as I'll ever be. I need to write more WinterIron... Or just, publish more of it. 
> 
> Thanks to Euterpeschild for reading this through for me!

Tuesdays are Tony Tuesdays, apparently. Really, it's not incorrect, because every Tuesday since Steve moved into the Tower after the Battle of New York, Tony has dragged Steve out into the city to discover something new. Through Tony, Steve has come to love the 21st century – the food, the people, even the music. They’ve been to cafés and restaurants and museums and shops, and Steve couldn’t have asked for someone so patient and so surprisingly non-judgemental to have shown him the ropes. Even now, three years down the line when all the Avengers are based in the Tower and free of Shield, they still have their Tuesdays.

Steve just hopes that Tony can do the same for Bucky.

After the fall of SHIELD, once Tony had finished giving him a taste of his own medicine and chewing him out for not calling, Steve had been floored by just how much Jarvis could do. Namely, Jarvis could find Bucky Barnes.

It took Jarvis three days, where it could’ve taken Steve (and Sam, who had been so willing to help that Tony had given him a floor in the Tower) months. Hilariously, once Tony had a signal, it turned out Bucky was about to enter the Tower, looking for Steve. That was six months ago – and even after the reveal of the Soldier being responsible for the deaths of Tony’s parents – Bucky is part of life in the Tower.

And now he’s let himself be dragged on a Tony Tuesday.

It had actually been Tony’s idea, suggested to Steve the week before, and Steve had told Tony he didn’t have to put himself in Bucky’s presence if it made him uncomfortable. Steve had thought it was a reasonable thing to say – given Tony had locked himself in his lab for a week after finding about Maria’s fate – but Tony had looked insulted at the idea. “I happen to like Barnes, you moron.” Tony had told him, and then when Steve had merely raised an eyebrow, proceeded to _blush_. He’d let it slide and agreed with the appropriate enthusiasm, not missing the way Tony relaxed at Steve's lack of comment.

So Bucky was now trailing a step behind, while Tony tried to keep him in the conversation. They'd gone to a quiet little clothing store – Bucky now had two new hoodies, a pair of jeans and a beat-up looking but perfectly sturdy pair of converse – and this hidden-away diner with few people and great fries. Bucky had actually smiled into his burger, and Tony’s answering grin made Steve realise that really, if anyone could be who Bucky deserved, it was probably Tony. Tony understood better than most about needing time to adjust, and how arduous the process of recovery could be. He’d be good to Bucky, undoubtedly. And hey, they were both his favourite people – to see them happy together? Steve would be nothing but supportive. Between Tony’s blush and his being exactly Bucky’s type, Steve reckoned there was a pretty good chance it’d happen.

It’s with this in mind that Steve lets the slight hyper-awareness he’s had of Bucky fade into the background somewhat. He can trust Tony, even with Bucky. They’d been out for three hours now – a rather short time in a long run of Tuesday outings, but a shared glance told Steve that both he and Tony were aware that Bucky wanted to go back.

The frustrating part wasn’t that he wanted to go back – on the contrary, Steve had been waiting for him to want to go back for two hours now – no, it was that Bucky clearly didn’t want to say anything. He was clearly starting to feel uneasy in the crowded streets, but instead of asking to go back, he just hunched in on himself more, like he might be able to make himself disappear.

Tony was about to make his own excuse to head back, with an encouraging nod from Steve, when Bucky seemed to give in to some inner battle – and grabbed the edge of Tony’s coat with his flesh hand. Tony, to his credit, didn’t react, simply switched his phone to his left hand so that he had a valid reason not to drop it back to his side and “catch” Bucky, and carried on, with the ploy of a meeting that “Pep says I have to be at... Wanna grab doughnuts before we get back?”

Steve had barely hidden his shock at the situation, especially when Bucky, seeing that Tony wasn’t going to ask him to let go, instantly relaxed a little and smiled.

“Fresh ones?” he’d asked, voice still small and unsure.

“Fresh doughnuts are the only doughnuts.” Tony told him with a grin.

“They’re like the ones we got at Coney Island.” Steve told Bucky, and Bucky looked at him like he’d forgotten – if only for a moment – that Steve was there, but he caught himself quickly.

“I don’t believe you.” He’d been smiling, though, and Steve counted it as a win.

  


Bucky joined them now for Tony Tuesdays. Tony purposefully timed their outings now for when places would be quieter, less crowded, and his tour-guide-esque sarcastic commentary was different to the way he’d told it to Steve – and Steve loved it. It was sharper in its humour, a little more flirty in its delivery, and more technical in its explanations. Steve had never been interested in the technology side of things, but Bucky was, always had been, and Steve would never be able to thank Tony enough for tailoring to that.

Tony didn’t seem to notice his alterations, in truth. Steve was watching one best friend fall for the other, and quite honestly, watching the other fall in return. There was always a point in their outings where Bucky, floundering and overwhelmed, sought out an anchor in the edge of Tony’s jacket. Tony never stopped him, never questioned it, merely smiled at Bucky and carried on like it was nothing. Steve had noticed that Tony always wore the same type of jacket on their outings now, too, the same kind of material, like a different kind of material wouldn’t provide the same comfort.

Steve privately thought it was less the jacket and more Tony himself that was the source of comfort for Bucky, but trying to mention that to Tony got Steve nowhere.

Bucky proved him right though.

It was after two months of Bucky joining them that it happened. Tony was extracting his phone from his pocket when Bucky reached for his jacket, and instead brushed his hand. Bucky froze, immediately and heartbreakingly convinced Tony was going to be angry, but Tony was anything but.

“One sec-” Tony finished pulling out his phone, swapped it to his right hand with a neat little toss, and then reached back to where Bucky had withdrawn. Tony intertwined his fingers with Bucky’s slowly, giving him every chance to pull away. He tugged Bucky gently to fall into step between them, and then smiled brightly up at him. “Okay?”

Bucky had nodded, too shocked to reply, but that day was the first that it felt like Bucky was walking alongside them. He was still quieter, still flinched away from anything too loud – but he snarked right back when Steve and Tony got into it over the Yankees. Again.

  


It was after that, that Steve started dragging Sam out so he could stop third wheeling.

Bucky was making progress in leaps and bounds, stepping out with the team for celebratory meals (and one disastrous trip to a karaoke bar), and he’d finally let Tony do more than just tinker with the arm to keep it functioning. He practised in the range with Clint, sparred with Natasha, and no longer bothered waiting til he was uncomfortable to grab Tony’s hand. He snarked and joked and teased like the Bucky Steve had known when they were young, complete with hair ruffling and elbowing and calling most of them “punk”. There were bad days, sure, but they were far out-weighed by the good days.

Steve was back to being Stevie again, and god, Steve had never thought he’d miss the nickname until hearing it again felt like coming home.

Really, Steve only had one problem: Bucky and Tony, nearly six months down the line, were still merely holding hands. They held hands on movie nights and over breakfast and at meals. Set foot outside the Tower, and Bucky's hand would be in Tony’s. Yet, while Tony Tuesdays had become something akin to double dates, _(yes, Sam, double dates, can you not look so surprised it’s insulting)_ it was still only hand holding. Hell, Steve was the King of Waiting Too Long, and even he and Sam were past that point three dates in. _(C’mon Sam, seriously? You started that kiss.)_

Even Natasha was considering stepping in and giving the two a little push – there were only so many longing gazes a team could cope with, even if they were superheroes – when it finally proved unnecessary.

It was the end of October, the weather beginning to get a little colder as winter eased itself into the city, when Tony wandered into Steve and Bucky’s apartment without warning or preamble and dropped down next to Bucky on the couch. Bucky merely grinned at the genius and stretched his arm out along the back of the couch, and Steve stifled a laugh at the move.

“What gloves should I get?” Tony had his tablet rested on his lap and was staring at it even as he directed the question to Bucky. Steve recognised the nervous tension in Tony’s posture, and was amused to find by the little frown on Bucky’s forehead that he’d noticed it too.

“What?” Bucky asked, and Tony rolled his eyes, looking up at him; Steve, startled a little by the sheer vulnerability in Tony’s eyes, decided that for this they needed a little privacy. He stepped into the elevator just as Tony repeated his question.

  


“What gloves should I get? You know, so my fingers don’t freeze off in the winter that’s right around the corner?” Tony asked, before swallowing and ducking away from Bucky’s surprised, soft, sky-blue gaze.

“I know what gloves are used for, doll,” Bucky rolled his eyes right back, and flicked the back of Tony’s head. “I’m asking why you’re asking me?” Tony gave a half shrug, and began to type nonsense on his tablet.

“You’re the one holding it. You need to be comfortable doing so. I was thinking like the blue jacket- hey!” Tony protested as Bucky took his tablet, but got no further as once Bucky had set the tablet aside he grabbed Tony by the shirt and pulled him into a kiss. Tony froze for half a second before he got with the program, one hand resting on Bucky’s neck, the other cupping his cheek.

“You are amazing, doll.” Bucky told him once he’d pulled back, just a little. Tony could feel the blush creeping up his neck, but he didn’t much care as Bucky leaned in to kiss him again, hands slipping from his shirt to his waist.

“It’s just gloves.”

“Tony.” Tony had to meet Bucky’s gaze then as Bucky’s voice broke a little. “It’s not just gloves. It’s the jacket-grabbing, the hand-holding, my new arm, and your weird-ass tour guide commentary. It’s every little damn thing you’ve done to make me comfortable, Tony, even though I- I don’t deserve a bit of it.” Tony immediately began to protest.

“That’s not true-” Bucky cut him off by kissing him.

“Tony, I’ve done some awful things.” He insisted. His forehead rested against Tony's, but he wouldn’t meet his eyes.

Tony kissed his nose, and gently used two fingers to nudge his head up. “And so have I. If I’m amazing, then you’re deserving.”

Bucky grinned, and had to stifle the urge to duck his head under Tony's serious eyes. “You didn’t let me get to my point, doll-” Tony cut him off with a kiss, long and languid, licking in and making Bucky _want_ before he pulled back with a smirk.

“Sorry, continue.” Tony tucked an errant strand of Bucky's hair behind his ear. Bucky leant into the touch, and enjoyed how Tony's face went soft and adoring as he did.

“It’s that I’m in love with you, Tony.” Bucky's voice was barely above a whisper, but he didn't need to be louder: Tony always heard him just fine. “It’s really not just gloves.” He turned his hand to absently press a kiss to Tony's palm, smiling at the sheer _shock_ on Tony's face like he'd taken the genius completely by surprise.

He probably had.

“You- right. I love you too. I- ha, you love me.” Tony let out an honest-to-god _giggle_ , and Bucky had to lean in to kiss the sound from his lips.

“Sure do.” He whispered, and Tony just reeled him back in again.

  


_Later, Tony says: “This is the greatest day of my life.”_

“ _So far.” Bucky can't help but correct, as his hands wander absent-mindedly over Tony's chest with a feather-light touch, tracing patterns in the material of his shirt. They're just laid there – have been for hours now – simply enjoying the concept of being so close._

“ _Is that a challenge?” Tony asks, but it's light and it's teasing, and Tony's rolling over to face Bucky now, letting himself be drawn into him. Bucky presses a kiss to the top of Tony's head, grinning at Tony's happy little hum._

“ _A promise.”_


End file.
